We took the Athens Metro Line 3 in Monastiraki Station at 8:30 pm. We paid €18 each for a roundtrip ticket between the airport and Athens. Remember, we flew in from Crete the day before so I purchased it when we were getting into town then. A single one-way ticket cost €10 per person .We arrived at Airport Eleftherios Venizelos (Athens International Airport) a little past 9:30 in the evening of Oct. 21, 2019. Our flight out of Athens was scheduled to depart at 00:20 am of October 22, 2019. We “checked-in” earlier that morning before we explored Athens. All we had to do, was to drop our bags and pick up our boarding passes once we get to the airport.
We picked up our luggage at our Air BnB at around 7:30 pm. Prior to that, we had dinner at a so-so restaurant near the flat. I mean it was still good, but the service was “cold”. Then again, we had such a good time the entire trip that it did not dampen the after-glow. We carefully packed our latest acquisitions of fabrics, some silver, a few packs of Greek coffee and 4 bottles of spirits to bring home. We both barely hit 23 kgs each. Our ticket on Oman air allows us a total baggage of 30 kgs Each. By the way, Oman air allows each passenger to check in two pieces of baggage as long as both baggage weight 15 kgs. each. So, just bare that I mind.
Before heading to the Oman Air counter, as planned, we cleaned ourselves at the restroom at the airport. We washed our face, wiped off our bodies with anti-bacterial wipes, changed underwear, brushed our teeth. Not only is it a form of courtesy to other passengers, but it’s also one way of being clean and comfortable in flight. We flew 15 hours total from Athens to Manila via Muscat. I wished we were able to shower before getting on the plane, but with a midnight departure, we did not want to pay for an extra day in our Air BnB for such a short amount of time.
Checking-in was a breeze. Going past immigration, security and getting to the boarding gates did not take longer than I expected. Not all of the duty-free shops in the departure area are not open 24 hours. I was casually strolling through one store looking for stuff to spend my remaining Euros on when I was told that they were closing in 5 minutes. I just bought a Briki of €13.
PSA, There is a water fountain near departure gate A11 where you can refill your water bottle.
The flight flew out of Athens on time. We flew out on a Boeing 737-800. We sat on the same seat assignments as our in-bound flight. The only difference this time was, both our IFE system were not working. Even the flight crew could not launch it from our seats. Cholo had to transfer to the aisle seat beside him to entertain himself while I just slept. Good thing it wasn’t a full flight. The in-flight service was the same as our inbound flight to Greece. I discussed this on my blog “Getting To Greece” .The flight in general wasn’t terrible – It was good. But there a few things that they should improve on if they want to become a hub in the Middle East. We had a 1 hour and 30 minutes lay over in Muscat.
We arrived in Manila at 9:50 pm of October 22, 2019.